A lockdown has been in effect from Monday for more than 40 million people in Italy because of the bad coronavirus situation there.

Except for the island of Sardinia, where hardly any restrictions apply, all Italian regions are subject to the medium-strict rules of an orange zone under Italy’s colour-coded system, or the strictest lockdown rules of a red zone.

In addition to the economically strong Lombardy with its metropolis of Milan and Lazio with its capital Rome, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna also fall into the red zone.

People there are only supposed to leave their homes in urgent cases, such as for shopping, emergencies or work.

Warning story for the rest of the world from Italy, where #COVID19 cases and deaths are once again rising exponentially:

This fight isn't over yet.https://t.co/pHAbYH92CO

— Megan Ranney MD MPH 🌻 (@meganranney) March 14, 2021

Sports in the fresh air are only allowed alone. Pupils have to switch back to lessons via the internet.

In view of the Easter holidays, the government under former European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi already decided at the end of last week that the red zone would apply to the entire country from April 3 to 5.

Most recently, the coronavirus pandemic had worsened in the country of 60 million people, with new infections rising daily and incidence values increasing on a weekly basis.

So far, more than 102,000 people have died as a result of an infection with the coronavirus and authorities have recorded more than 3.223 million cases.